There was a thumping at her side, something pushing against her. The ache from the hits was nothing compared to the general ache of her entire body. Sam's eyelids fluttered, and she tried to open her eyes as she was pushed across the floor. She wanted to quip that it was rude to slide a sick person over the floor, but nothing came out of her mouth but a groan.

Someone was kneeling beside her in a second, and Sam knew that scent. Soap and gun powder. Only Jason could mix the smells and not stink. He was talking to her, but she could barely understand what he was saying. Her name. She recognized her name. She grunted and her eyelids fluttered again.

"Jason? What's wrong with Sam?"

So he had been going to get Danny, after all. Sam wanted to tell her brother to get away. He could catch whatever she had. She probably would have given the same warning to Jason if she weren't feeling rather selfish at the moment. Danny could be protected. Jason—She just wanted him to hold her and comfort her.

"Open your eyes, Sam. Look at me." She was able to just barely peak them open, just enough to catch a brief glimpse of his midsection before her eyes fell again. "Come on, Sam, look at me. A little wider. Sam, open your eyes."

"Sam?" Danny was kneeling next to her. She felt him coming closer, felt him hover over her. He touched her face, then jerked back with a hiss. "She's hot like the stove, Jason. What's wrong with Sam?"

Something that sounded like a stutter came from Jason, and then, "Sam's sick, Danny, but she's going to be fine. We're taking her to the hospital, and she'll be fine."

"Sam, wake up! Sam! Sam, you gotta wake up, okay? You gotta!"

"Danny!" Jason's voice was sharp. Sam opened her eyes to bare slits and could see the frustration and fear on his face. Her eyelids drooped shut again, and she was back in darkness. "Danny, calm down. You have to be strong, okay? Sam's going to be fine."

"But…"

"She's going to be fine."

Sam felt herself being lifted and she whimpered. The motion made her head ache, like it was splitting open. "Hot," she muttered, and then a second later, "cold." She curled in a ball against Jason's body and shuddered. "Freezing."

Jason held her tighter and presed his lips to her head. Sam thought that she must have been burning her. She may have been cold, but Danny said she was like the stove. She was burning up. It had to have hurt to be so close to her skin. "You're going to be fine. I'll find Robin, and she'll fix this. She'll know what to do."

Sam wanted to be jealous that he instantly thought to go to Robin, but all she had within her was relief that he was with her. That he was holding her close to his chest, where she could hear his heart beating at a furious pace, and that he was thinking of how to make her better. How to save her.

People were scrambling the hospital floor as Luis made his way inside, leaning against one of his guards and holding Cameron as tightly as he could. His left arm was shaky, but he had to hold the gun steady. Didn't these people understand? He was not relinquishing the boy to anyone other than his mother. If he had to shoot his way through the emergency room, he would place Cameron safely into Elizabeth's hands.

All around them, people were swarming into the hospital. Emergency personnel were wheeling people in on gurneys from the loading bay. Ambulances. Speeding cars. Taxicabs. Motorcycles. Whatever mode of transportation was the quickest and most disposable. Luis's own limousine was amongst the rabble, waiting to see if Luis came back out.

Cameron was quiet now, and that scared Luis. However, he couldn't take his eyes off of the security guards that surrounded him to look at the boy. He had to keep them at bay. What would Elizabeth think if he wantonly gave her son to someone else? If others in the hospital knew that he were sick before she did? That was not acceptable.

"Back away!" Luis shook his head briskly. Someone came towards him and he forced his body upright. Every muscle hurt. His body wanted to collapse upon itself, but that had to wait. He couldn't give over to the pain and tire just yet. "Elizabeth!" He shook his head again. "Elizabeth Webber!"

Muttering. Someone rushed past him, pushing against him. Jason Morgan? Luis had to squint to see that he rushed forward with Sam McCall in his arms. Another one sick? So, it wasn't just himself and Cameron. Perhaps the flu was invading Port Charles. Lovely.

He murmurred, "Lovely. Elizabeth…" His head started to swim, and he thought he saw Elizabeth standing in front of him. "I love you," he said in a lazy voice. Words that he had felt for over a month now, but been too afraid to speak. Too afraid that they would scare her away. But now, his head was so far gone that nothing stopped him from saying them.

"Mr. Alcazar? Luis?" Elizabeth wouldn't address him so formally. Luis blinked twice to see Bobbie Spencer standing in front of him. How could he have mistaken her red hair for Elizabeth's chestnut? "Oh my God, Cameron. Luis, you have to give him to me."

"No!" He stood up straighter still. His body screamed against the movement, but Luis wouldn't give in. "Elizabeth!" She probably couldn't hear him. Even to his own ears, his voice sounded weak. "Elizabeth Webber. I have to give him to his mother."

"She's coming, Luis, but right now, Cameron needs medical attention, and so do you. Please, put the gun down so we can help you both."

"I can wait. First, Cameron. First…" He started to droop, but then he heard her voice and knew that it was her. He stood up straight and opened his eyes. "Elizabeth…"

"Cameron?" She ran forward, and as expected, snatched the burning boy from Luis's arms. He had expected as much. She was a mother and her son came first. "Oh my God, Cameron. Help! Dr. Jones, it's Cameron!"

She was preoccupied, understandably. Admirably. Luis would have thought he had misjudged her had she taken the time for him. However, with Cameron safely in his mother's protective grasp, Luis could allow his own illness to take him under. Within seconds of relinquishing Cameron, Luis collapsed to the floor. His gun clanked against the floor beside him. He felt the shadows of people around him and medical jargon told him that they were doctors and nurses. And faintly, he could hear a gasp that he thought had to be hers. Before the crowd overtook him, he saw Elizabeth turn a shocked and worried glance in his direction, and he tried to smile at her. "Cameron is safe," he muttered, and then the gap was closed and he could see her no more.